


For The Love of Soccer and Diner Food

by Neymarisdaddyaf



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cliche, Diners, M/M, Milkshakes and Big Dreams, Slow Burn, Small Towns, Teenagers, The Overdone High School AU That No One Asked For But I Wrote Anyway, rival teams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-09-17 03:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16966620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neymarisdaddyaf/pseuds/Neymarisdaddyaf
Summary: Lionel Messi and Cristiano are the team captains of rival high school soccer teams in small town Wisconsin. Because of Cristiano's innate ability to get underneath Leo's skin, Leo can't stand the other boy. Lionel couldn't wait to leave his town behind and hopes that he never has to see Cristiano Ronaldo ever again.





	1. Chapter 1

Leo didn’t know which of his teammates had brought such bad luck to the team but he was ready to go on a witch hunt by the final whistle. It was the first soccer game of the new school year, so this was a morale blow but to make it even worse it was against their biggest rivals; Hill View High School. It stung to lose and he felt like he had failed as the team’s captain. His head was hung low as he walked towards the exit of the pitch but he wasn’t able to make it very far. A larger body materialized in front of him. Craning his neck to look up, he grimaced when he recognized the body blocking his escape. The grinning face of Cristiano Ronaldo was illuminated by the bright lights around the pitch. 

“You’re going to have to play better than that if you want to take home the trophy this year, Messi.” The other team captain teased and Leo wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face. 

“Yeah.” He grumbled and pushed past the boy. Ronaldo was possibly the biggest reason Leo hated Hill View High so vehemently. He was so cocky and flashy, even when playing, and he never missed a chance to get under Leo’s skin. It wouldn’t be so bad if they only had to see each other when their schools played, but due to the smaller size of their town, he saw Ronaldo multiple times a week. 

It wasn’t like his town was a bad place to live, but Leo was tired of the same sights, the same people and the drama that came with a small town. He couldn’t wait to finish his last year of high school and then he could be on his way to college, leaving Wisconsin behind. 

Lionel changed out of his kit and sat on the bench of the locker room to listen to their coach go on about work ethic and making their parents proud. Leo couldn’t care less. All he wanted was a hot shower and to collapse on his bed. 

Their coach had now gone on a tangent about funding or something of that nature. Leo wasn’t sure exactly; He had tuned the man out a while ago. He was brought back to reality when his knee was being nudged by another. 

“What?” He whispered, looking over at Gerard Pique. 

“Did you notice how Cristiano stared at you?” His best friend’s question caught him off guard. 

“What?” He asked again. “What are you talking about, Geri?” 

“You didn’t notice? During warm-ups, half time and every chance he got after the game.” 

Leo rolled his eyes and leaned back to rest his head on the lockers, “sounds to me like you’re the one with the staring problem.” Leave it to Gerard to try and start something. Even if Leo didn’t know exactly _what_ he was trying to start by telling him this. Gerard thrived off of starting drama and rumors so Leo had to learn to brush off most of what his friend said. 

Their coach had noticed that most of the boys had stopped paying attention and sighed, “Go home. See you all Monday.” Leo was the first to flee the room for the parking lot. Gerard quickly fell into step beside him. The air outside had become much chillier and Leo shoved his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, hoping to keep them warm. 

“Do you work tomorrow?” Gerard was in a thin t-shirt and looked completely unbothered by the cool air. 

“I work every weekend.” The two had stopped walking once they reached Leo’s beaten and worn-down Jeep. 

“Well if you decide to call out, Marc, Luis and I were planning on going to the lake, you’re more than welcome to tag along.” 

Leo huffed and unlocked his car door, “I can’t call out, Geri.” He tossed his backpack into the passenger seat. “But I hope guys have fun.” 

 

** 

 

Lionel had fallen asleep as soon as he had gotten home after the game, regardless, he was still exhausted when he had to get up for work the next day. He sluggishly dressed in his white collared shirt and black jeans, downed a cup of coffee and was out the door. For the first time, Leo was actually happy to have a morning shift. Rosie’s diner was always much busier during the evening shift on a Saturday. He had to work it last Saturday and was close to going home and never returning. 

It towards the end of Leo’s shift when he was approached by one of the other waitresses. Eliza Turner was a shorter 40-something year old, and always had her curly red hair pulled back into an unkempt bun. Leo liked her well enough. “Can I ask a favor of you?” 

“Sure.” He took in her frazzled state. Eliza was here every day, always taking doubles when she could to keep her and her two sons afloat after her husband had split town. She was stretching herself too thin and was way overworked. Leo couldn’t help but to pity her a little. 

“My sister called; Daniel’s fever is getting worse and I need to take him to the doctor. Would you mind finishing out my last table?” 

At this point in his shift, Leo was ready to go home. But he knew his conscience would eat at him if he said no. “Yeah I’ve got it. I hope Daniel feels better.” 

After Eliza had left, Leo went to check on her table. Once he saw who was seated there, he regretted agreeing to this. Cristiano Ronaldo was seated there scrolling through his phone, sipping at a smoothie, looking bored. Leo walked over to his table, wanting to get Cristiano out of here as quickly as possible. The overconfident boy looked up at him once he approached and just as Leo was about to ask what else he needed, Cristiano spoke up first. 

“Messi? I didn’t know you worked here.” 

Leo felt a twinge of irritation at being cut off. “Just on the weekends.” He cleared his throat and tried but failed to keep the impatience out of his voice. “Is there something else I can get you?” 

“Just another smoothie. Mango.” Ronaldo slid his glass towards Leo and turned his attention back to his phone. Leo grabbed the glass and walked back towards the kitchen. Just seeing the other boy had put him in a bad mood, even if nothing snide had been said. He mumbled the order out to the cook, Brian, who was quick to hand him another smoothie. 

“Anything else?” He asked once he had sat the smoothie down in front of Cristiano. 

“Just the check.” Cristiano took a sip of his smoothie. “So, you go to school all week and work all weekend? Don’t you ever have fun?” He flashed a crooked smile up at Leo. 

Before Leo could catch himself, he was already speaking, “of course I do!” He replied indigently. Looking at Cristiano’s still present smile, he hated at how easy it was for Cris to wind him up. With a sigh, Leo put the check down on the table. 

“Enjoy your smoothie.” 

Leo was in the back, texting Gerard about what had just happened when he heard Cristiano at the front paying. He waited until he heard the door to the diner open and close before he went out to clean up the table. 

Josie, the waitress who was taking over for him for evening shift, greeted him as she walked in. Leo shot her a small smile and then started wiping down his table. He picked up the empty glass and his brow furrowed at the sight of a 10-dollar bill lying there. Normally he would have been jumping with joy at such a tip but not this time. Instead he rolled his eyes and scoffed to himself, because honestly what kind of idiot leaves a 10-dollar tip for two smoothies?


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday’s went pretty much the same way for Leo over the next few weeks. Leo would go into work and sometime around midday is when Cristiano would waltz in. He ordered the same mango smoothie every time and left the same $10 tip. Of course, he’d try and see just how easily Leo would bristle that day. 

This Saturday was a little different. Cristiano was nowhere to be seen and when midday rolled around, Leo realized he had been glancing up at the door every time it opened to see if he walked in. Of course, he told himself it was because of the nice tip and had nothing to do with the fact that he was beginning to tolerate Cristiano slightly more each Saturday. _Slightly_. But midday passed by and it was time for Leo’s lunch break now. 

“Here you go, Leo.” Josie sat a grilled cheese sandwich on the counter in front of him. 

“Thanks.” He gave her a small smile before digging into the sandwich. He was swinging his legs back and forth from his spot on a barstool and kept the same content smile on his face as he ate. 

“You look like you’re really enjoying that.” Leo’s head snapped to the side to see Cristiano sitting down. His smile dropped and his legs stopped swinging. Cristiano began taking things out of his bag; A notebook, calculator, and a pencil. Leo wanted to make a comment that he was taking up too much space at the counter, but he kept his mouth shut. Since Cristiano had opened up his notebook, a rare silence spread over the two and Leo wasn’t going to mess that up. 

Every now and again, Leo would send a sideway glance at the boy beside him. His brow was furrowed and a small pout was on his face. He looked like he was having a really hard time figuring out whatever was in his notebook. Still, Leo wasn’t going to make a comment. That was until he heard a very overdramatic sigh from Cristiano. 

Leo rolled his eyes, “you look like you’re really struggling with that.” 

“I’d like to see you try and do this!” Cristiano snapped back, looking at Leo with a scowl. Instead of replying, Leo just turned back to his food. Though, he did wonder what exactly Ronaldo was doing that was so difficult. A few minutes later and his curiosity got the best of him. Leaning to the side as inconspicuously as possible, Leo looked down at Cristiano’s notebook. It was math. Fairly simple math, in Leo’s opinion. He watched as Cristiano tried going through the steps to solving the equations, but messed up on every single step. 

“You’re doing that wrong.” He spoke around his food. He noticed how Cristiano’s grip tightened around his pencil and could swear he saw his eye twitch. 

“Then get over here and help me.” 

** 

Leo had spent the remaining time he had on his break, helping Cristiano with his math. They had only gotten through two problems before Leo had to get back to work. Math definitely was not Cristiano’s strong suit. 

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can get you.” He placed the plates down in front of two of his customers. 

“Leo!” Cristiano’s shout had Leo’s head splitting. “What about this problem?” This is how it had been since he got back on the clock. He was ready to strangle the kid. But he went over to Cristiano to see what he wanted nonetheless. 

“It’s the same as all the others. Just do the same thing you’ve been doing.” He huffed, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the counter where a few people had been sitting earlier. 

“But it looks different.” 

“That doesn’t matter. You still solve it the same way.” 

“But it _looks_ different.” Running a hand down his face, Leo went over to Cristiano, hating how proud the boy looked at getting his undivided attention. 

** 

Leo’s shift was finally over and he was happy to clock out. Cristiano had literally stayed the remaining 3 hours of his shift and bothered him the entire time. Now he was following Leo out the door to his car. 

“You work tomorrow, right?” He didn’t even wait for Leo to answer. “I’ll be here around the same time to get you to help me again.” 

Leo froze and dread filled his body, “no!” Cristiano looked a little surprised by his outburst. He took a deep breath, “look, my shift ends at 4 tomorrow, okay? Just-” He knew he was probably about to make a huge mistake but he couldn’t risk Cristiano coming back for help during another shift. “-Just meet me at the library.” 

Leo couldn’t keep the eye contact when Cristiano’s face broke out into a brilliant smile. “Thanks, Leo! I really appreciate it!” 

“Don’t call me Leo.”


	3. Chapter 3

Leo’s Jeep pulled into the library’s car park. Today’s shift had been exhausting. His feet and arms were killing him, he felt dirty and now he had to go help an incompetent moron with his math homework. Cristiano was standing in front of the library with that same stupid smile that was always on his face. Leo groaned and got out of the car to walk up the steps. 

Leo didn’t even greet him, just walked by and opened the doors, “let’s get this over with.” Cristiano was hot on his heels as he walked through the library, trying to find a table. 

“Someone’s grumpy today.” Leo didn’t turn to see it, but he could hear the smirk in Ronaldo’s voice. He let the comment roll off him and sat down at a more secluded table. Cristiano didn’t make any more comments and chose to take out his homework from his backpack. 

Almost an hour and a half into their tutoring session, Cristiano was starting to understand the concepts. He was quietly going through his problems, while Leo sat beside him and watched every step to make sure it was correct. While Leo was perfectly content to sit here in silence, Cristiano was the exact opposite; The silence felt uncomfortable and awkward. 

“So-” Cristiano broke the silence but didn’t bring his attention up from his paper. “It looks like we’re going to take state this year.” He couldn’t resist the chance to bring up Hill View High’s unbeaten record this year. Especially when Leo’s school, Edgewater High, had won as many games as they’ve lost. Putting them way behind Hill View. 

“You’re answer is wrong.” Leo deadpanned. He pointed to the last problem Cristiano had finished. “Subtracting a negative, turns it into addition.” Leo ignored the comment and just wanted to focus on school and not soccer. 

“Oh. Right.” Cristiano mumbled, looking embarrassed as he erased the answer and wrote down the new one. 

The silence stretched on for another 15 or so minutes before Cristiano had to open his mouth again, “did you know I’m averaging 2 goals a game? That’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?” He glanced up just in time to see Leo’s hand clench together. 

“If I keep that average up for the rest of the season, I could make Hill View history-” Leo interrupted the boy, “no more soccer talk, okay? If you want my help then that’s the deal.” 

Cristiano looked up from his paper, “what about professional leagues?” 

“Fine.” And with that Cris got back to work and Leo went back to watching. 

Clearing his throat, Cristiano spoke up once again, “do you keep up with La Liga?” Seeing Leo nod was satisfying. They finally may have found common ground. “I’m a big Real Madrid fan myself. What about you?” 

“Barcelona.” Okay, so maybe they should leave professional leagues out of conversation too. 

** 

That following Tuesday, Cristiano was sitting in his math class waiting to get his homework back. When the teacher finally handed it back to him, the first thing he noticed was the bright red ‘A’ marked at the top. His desk mate Sergio looked over at his paper. 

“Since when are you good at math? Or did you talk some poor soul into doing it for you?” Sergio’s words were laden with disbelief. 

“I got a tutor.” He smirked over at his teammate. “Lionel Messi.” 

He enjoyed the shocked look that came over Sergio’s face. “No fucking way.” Cris just gave him the smuggest smile he could muster as his response. “You’re unbelievable. I’ve gotta tell the guys about this.” Sergio was laughing as he pulled his phone out to start a group message. 

“You really do torture that kid, ya know?” Sergio pocketed his phone. “Bothering him at work and now this. I love it.” Of course, Cristiano told Sergio as soon as he found out Leo worked at Rosie’s Diner. Sergio was left believing that his friend did all of this just to get under the skin of Edgewater High’s team captain. Cristiano didn’t correct his friend and continued to let him believe whatever he wanted. But really, he just kind of liked being around Leo. Not that he’d ever openly admit to that. 

“I hope you get him to keep tutoring you. You heard coach last week. If you don’t get your grade up then you’re off the team.” 

Cristiano’s smile dropped and he sighed, “yeah. I know.” Suddenly something hit him. He never asked Leo about getting help next weekend. He also didn’t know his work schedule. “Hey, you still have Gerard Pique’s number, right?” 

** 

Leo and Gerard were sitting in Biology when Gerard looked up from his phone, regarding Leo with confused eyes. “Why is Sergio Ramos asking me about your work schedule?” 

“What?” Leo looked over at Gerard’s phone and sure enough Ramos had sent a text saying, _‘Yo, dumbass. What’s Messi’s work schedule like this weekend? Asking for a friend.’_

It clicked into place what friend Sergio was talking about and also why he wanted his work schedule. Ronaldo really would go to any lengths to bother him, wouldn’t he? 

“Just tell him that I work mornings and yes I will meet his friend at the library. Same time as before.” He really didn’t want Gerard to know about him tutoring Cristiano. He would never hear the end of it. 

Gerard typed out the message but didn’t hit send. “Before I send it, I want you to tell me what’s going on.” Leo rubbed his temples, feeling another headache coming on. 

“I’m tutoring Ronaldo.” He kept his voice down, not wanting to attract any attention to himself. But Gerard messed that up by being his usual overdramatic self. 

“You’re what?!” Multiple kids turned around to look at the pair and Leo turned bright red.

Jabbing a finger into Pique’s chest, he whispered angrily, “do _not_ tell the others.” He watched as the boy held his hands up in surrender. 

The bell rang, signaling the end of this period. Kids filed out and moved onto their next class. “I’ll see you at lunch.” Gerard told him before parting ways. 

** 

At lunch Leo was the last person to sit down at the table. He could feel the eyes of all his teammates on him. He tried ignoring them, but they weren’t even trying to hide the fact that they were staring at him like he was some sort of alien. 

“Okay.” He sighed and put his fork down. “What is it?” 

“Are you really tutoring Ronaldo?” Luis blurted out. 

“Gerard!”


	4. Chapter 4

When Leo had agreed to tutor Cristiano again this weekend, he didn’t expect to see the boy in his normal booth come midday Saturday. The surprise must’ve been written all over his face when he went over to Cristiano. 

“I don’t come here for you, Leo.” Cris laughed. “I come for the smoothies.” 

Leo got flustered at that, “I never said-!” He had to stop himself from stomping his foot like a toddler. He huffed and walked away from the table and from Cristiano who was laughing even harder now. Even though the Hill View High student seemed more hellbent to annoy him more so today, seeing that $10 on the table after he left, almost made him worth putting up with. 

** 

The pair sat at the same table of the library as last time. Before they got started, Cristiano pulled out last week’s homework, proudly presenting it in front of Leo. Normally, Leo would have scoffed or rolled his eyes at Cristiano but for whatever reason he found his actions kind of endearing. 

“First time getting an A?” Leo crossed his legs and tried to look unamused. Cristiano didn’t seem deterred by Leo’s slightly demeaning comment. 

“In math? Yes.” Now Leo rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, what are we doing today?” 

“Inverse functions.” Cristiano replied, taking out his homework and setting it in front of them. 

Leo was thankful that it didn’t take as long for Cristiano to get the grasp of this. There were still careless mistakes made here and there but overall, they had knocked out most of his worksheet in an hour. He propped his chin on his hand and watched Cristiano scribble away. So far, there were no comments made about their school’s teams or personal stats. Other than Leo explaining the intricacies of functions and Cristiano asking a few questions, it had been relatively quiet. There was one thing that had been on Leo’s mind for quite some time and he had been itching to bring it up. 

“You know most people don’t leave such a big tip for a smoothie. Or any tip at all, actually.” Leo’s eyes moved up from the worksheet to Cristiano’s profile. He didn’t miss the way it took the boy longer to reply. 

“Are you complaining?” Ronaldo teased, bringing his eyes up to meet Leo’s. 

“I guess not.” 

Both boys turned their attention back to the worksheet and nothing more was spoken about the topic. Leo, however, was oblivious to the tips of Cristiano’s ears burning a bright pink. 

Another 30 minutes later, and Ronaldo had finished his homework with a pretty good understanding of the concept. 

“I really do appreciate your help.” Cristiano was shoving his binder back into his bag. “I’ll be kicked off the team if I don’t bring my grade up by midterms.” 

“So, I’m helping you stay on the team and continue to be a pain in my ass?” Leo tilted his head to the side. “I think I need to reevaluate what I’m doing.” 

** 

Leo and Cristiano fell into an easy routine. Meeting every Saturday and if needed, Sunday’s. This didn’t keep Cristiano from coming into Rosie’s Saturday mornings to get his smoothie. Even leaving the same tip, though Leo had brought it up a couple weeks ago. 

The first thing that Ronaldo did once he and Leo would sit down at their table, was bring out his graded homework, always proud to show Leo the red ‘A’ written at the top. His math grade was slowly inching up to where it needed to be. 

“So, Leo, you got a girlfriend?” Cristiano asked as they walked out of the library one Saturday. Leo didn’t even bother telling Cristiano not to call him by his nickname anymore. There was no use in it. 

“No.” Cristiano followed Leo out to his car and the two stood outside of it. Leo ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. 

“You growing out your hair or something?” Lionel didn’t know why Cristiano’s comment made him feel so sheepish. He circled his arms around his middle and looked to the ground. 

“Just haven’t found the time to get it cut.” It was hard to keep from squirming under Cristiano’s eyes. “Stop staring at me, you weirdo.” 

Cristiano’s warm laugh brought his eyes back up from the ground. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Leo.”


	5. Chapter 5

When Leo had agreed to take up a night shift after Tuesday’s practice, he figured it would be uneventful and slow. Up until closing time, he was right. 

It had been raining off and, on all day, but it seemed to have gotten much worse the later it got. Leo was mopping the floors of the diner and kept glancing out the windows whenever there was a crack of thunder. It was almost closing time and he was dreading driving home in the nasty storm. 

The bell above the diner’s door, jingled and in walked a soaking wet Cristiano. Leo watched as he walked over to a barstool, dripping water and leaving dirty shoeprints on the clean floors. 

“It’s pretty bad out there.” Cristiano turned the chair to face Leo and leaned back to prop his elbows on the counter. 

Leo took his mop to go back over where Cristiano had walked. “Why are you out in it anyway?” 

“Went for a run and got caught out in it. Good thing you guys were still open.” 

“Not for long. You have to leave in-” Leo looked at his watch, “-20 minutes.” 

Cristiano brought a hand up to his chest, “are you really going to kick me out?” 

“Yes.” 

Leo put the mop in the backroom and came back out to sit at a booth. He looked up from his phone with a raised eyebrow when Cristiano moved to sit on the table in front of him. 

“I can’t believe you’re going to kick me out. I thought we were friends.” Leo looked back down at his phone and put his chin on his palm. 

“Who told you that?” Came the disinterested reply. He was tired and didn’t have the energy to entertain Ronaldo tonight. Leo was expecting some sort of sarcastic remark but he was greeted with a long silence. He could hear the rustling of clothes as Cristiano shifted. He could still feel those eyes on him. Breathing out, Leo was about to ask what was bothering the boy but he wasn’t able to get the words out in time. 

“Why do you hate me so much?” 

Out of everything Leo expected to come out of Ronaldo’s mouth, that wasn’t one of them. It shocked him to an extent. Where was he even supposed to start with that? 

“I mean I know were rivals and all but other than that-” Cristiano cut himself off and there was a pause; Like he was trying to find the right words. “I just don’t understand.” 

Leo didn’t want to look at Cristiano’s face. Suddenly everything felt too heavy. Too personal. “You’re just so-” he waved his hand around trying to convey what he meant but failed to do so, “-so sure of yourself; So sure of everything. Not to mention how you made it your mission to annoy me. There's just something about you...” Leo trailed off. 

“Oh.” Was all Cris said before sliding off the table and into the booth. This is when Leo looked up to see Cristiano looking down at the table with an upset expression, drawing invisible patterns on the table. 

“You ready to lock up, Leo?” Brian came from the kitchen, startling both of the boys. 

“Yeah.” Leo stood up and looked down at Cristiano, then to the storm still raging outside, “do you want a ride?” 

Cristiano looked at Leo, his eyes had grown large, not believing that Leo actually offered him a ride home. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Thanks.” 

** 

The ride to Cristiano’s place was a bit uncomfortable at the beginning, the only noise had been Cristiano giving him directions. This was so much different than their study sessions at the library. Leo’s conscience was weighing on him since what he had said at the diner. He really didn’t have any huge reasons to hate Ronaldo as much as he had. He had never been outright rude or mean to Leo, it was always to pick fun. 

Gripping at his steering wheel, he spoke, “I’m sorry. You never did anything to me to warrant what I thought of you. There was just so much stigma around you and Hill View. You know everyone compares us to each other all the time and I think I just got too caught up in it all.” 

Leo glanced over at the other boy to see him still looking out the side window. His grip on the wheel loosened. “So yeah. I’m sorry.” 

Cristiano turned his head to look at Leo with a dopey smile, “friends?” 

“Almost, I suppose.” Leo would allow that much. They didn’t know each other enough to consider themselves friends. 

“I’ll take it.” And Leo would be damned if he said that stupid smile wasn’t contagious.


	6. Chapter 6

The first Saturday that Cristiano didn’t show up to the diner didn’t really stand out to Leo, or at least that’s what he told himself. He would glance up from wherever he was every time he heard the door open. It wasn’t because he actually wanted Cristiano to be the one walking through the door, but because Cristiano had become a part of his normal routine. It was out of habit if not anything else. Sure, he and the taller boy had created some sort of bond that was in the grey area between acquaintances and friends, but that didn’t mean he waited for the guy to come around on Saturdays. He did however, wait around at the library for Cristiano to show up. Not seeing him standing at the top of the steps, didn’t have Leo thinking too much of it. Figuring that Cristiano had gone inside instead of waiting, Leo went inside and sat at their table. He was nowhere to be seen. 

Leo waited, waited and waited. He had started and finished his homework and still no sign of Cristiano. With every minute that passed, Leo grew more and more angry. He shoved his books back in his bag and stormed out of the library, feeling embarrassed and ridiculous. 

It was the second Saturday that Cristiano didn’t show up at the diner again, that got Leo thinking back a little. He hadn’t even seen the other boy around town, which was pretty rare. Their town wasn’t big by any stretch of the imagination and they would usually see each other at some point. Still, Leo wasn’t worried about him and he did give him another chance to show up for their study session. 

He should have known better. Leo walked out of the library for the second Saturday in a row, feeling even more ridiculous than the last time. The boy had come to him for help and yet he was the one being stood up. The next time he saw Cristiano, he was going to give him a piece of his mind. 

** 

It was fitting that the next time the two saw each other was when their teams clashed once again. Before the match started, Leo over at Cristiano; He looked fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Their eyes met and Cristiano flashed a large smile his way, acting as if everything was fine and he totally didn’t stand Leo up twice. Leo just glared at him and finally that smile dropped. Not much else could happen before the whistle blew, signaling the start of the match. 

Leo pushes himself every game he plays but this game was different. He pushed himself harder than he ever had before. He was driving for a goal every time that ball ended up at his feet; His only focus was the net at the end of the pitch. Everyone could tell a change in Leo, especially the other team. Their defenders struggled to get the ball away from him and it didn’t take but 20 minutes into the first half for Leo to find the back of the net. 

He was surrounded by his teammates who were clinging to him or ruffling his hair. His eyes found Cristiano who was looking at Leo with an unreadable expression. Leo didn’t pay much mind to him and jogged back into his spot, ready for the match to resume. 

Edgewater netted another goal before the halftime whistle, curtesy of Leo. It was an absolutely stunning volley that hand spectators and players alike, staring in awe. 

Leo’s drive didn’t diminish after the first half. He stayed focused and oriented and was rewarded with one last goal in the ending minutes of the game. He wouldn’t like, it felt nice seeing the Hill View players knocked down a few pegs. It felt nice seeing Cristiano knocked down a few pegs. 

Gerard and Leo were walking side by side, ready to get off the pitch and into the locker rooms. But a hand on Leo’s shoulder stopped him. Turning around, he was greeted by Cristiano wearing a pained expression but forcing a small smile, nonetheless. His mouth opened, just about to say something but Leo beat him to the chase. 

“Oh, so now you want to talk to me?” Leo wanted to cringe at how petty he sounded. 

“Huh?” Cristiano’s confusion sounded sincere and for some reason that made Leo even more upset at the boy. 

“You left me waiting for you at the library the past two weekends. I looked so stupid waiting around for you.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You knew I wasn’t going to be there. He was supposed to tell you.” Cristiano pointed at Gerard who looked taken aback. “I made sure Sergio texted him to tell you that I wasn’t going to make it.” 

All eyes were on Gerard now. He was staring at something far off in the distance, looking like he had no recollection of this happening and then, “oh shit.” 

“You forgot to tell him?” Cristiano’s eyes narrowed at Pique. 

Pique threw his hands up, “I’m sorry! Maybe if you two just texted each other instead of having us relay everything, then none of this would happen!” He spun on his heel and walked away in a huff. 

Leo looked down at the ground, feeling bad for getting so upset at Cristiano. “Sorry for thinking you were the biggest jerk ever.” 

“Sorry your friend is an idiot.” A soft chuckle from Cristiano told Leo that he wasn’t angry at him for acting the way he did. 

“He’s right though.” Leo looked back up at Cristiano when he heard him speak up again. “We should have each other’s numbers. Just so this doesn’t happen again.” 

** 

_‘Where are you? I had to get someone else to get my smoothie.’_ Read the text from Cristiano. It was Saturday and normally Leo would be working but he was given today off and he was spending it at one of his favorite places in town; Critical Hit Arcade. 

_‘Off today. Still meeting at the library?’_ Leo typed quickly, eager to get back to his game of Space Invaders. He didn’t get to play long when his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

_‘Let’s just meet tomorrow.’_ Another text followed in quick succession, _‘You still didn’t tell me where you were at.’_

Leo rolled his eyes but ended up telling him he was at the arcade. He didn’t hear anything after that and didn’t think much of it. His attention was drawn back to his game and he was determined to beat his best score. 

He wasn’t aware of how much time had passed since he had begun playing again but he jumped when a voice sounded beside him all of the sudden, “I bet I can beat your score.” 

Cristiano was standing beside him, grinning. Leo scoffed, “you wish.” 

He was nudged out of the way and Cris put in a coin to start a new game. Leo watched as he tried and tried to beat his highest score but failed each time. Each time that Game Over flashed across the screen, Leo’s smirk grew. 

“Is this your first time playing or something?” Leo teased, studying how Cristiano’s tongue was poking out the side of his mouth and his eyes were glued to the screen as he mashed the buttons. 

“Shut up.” It didn’t take much longer for the game to end yet again after that. Cristiano’s looked up from the game and scanned the room around him before his whole face lit up once he noticed something in particular. 

“I bet I can kick your ass at air hockey.” 

“You’re so on.” 

** 

The two boys sat at the makeshift food court of the arcade. Cristiano did in fact win 2 out of the three games of air hockey they played. 

“So, are your classes still going good?” Leo chewed on his pizza and tried to make conversation. 

“Yeah they’re good. Sorry for not showing up those couple of days.” 

Leo waved him off, “don’t worry about it.” 

It was quiet again and Leo took in Cristiano’s appearance for the first time that day. He looked exhausted. A small amount of worry bubbled inside of his stomach. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Cris’ smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and Leo knew something was off. He pinned him with an unconvinced look. 

Cristiano sighed, “it’s just my dad. He’s been really down my neck lately. Trying to push me to be better and better. He and my coach have been talking to a college scout and convinced him to come and watch my next game.” 

Ah, so that’s what’s going on, Leo thought to himself. It was no secret around their town about how strict and hard Ronaldo’s father was on him. He wanted his son to make it into the MLS, everyone knew that. 

“Oh. Sorry.” Was all Leo could manage. “You don’t have to be here. You can go home and rest. You look like you need it.” 

This time Cristiano’s smile didn’t look so forced, “no, it’s okay. It’s nice to get away from all of that for a little while. Besides, I like hanging out with you.” 

Leo wanted to tell Cristiano that he actually didn’t mind hanging out with him either but he kept that too himself. “Maybe that’s what you need. Just one day a week where you can do whatever you want and not worry about school or soccer.” 

“I could say the same thing about you. When’s the last time you did something that was focused around school or soccer? Besides today, that is.” 

Leo stayed silent because honestly, he couldn’t remember. It was always school, work and soccer. That’s how it had been for so long. 

“We could have a day every week where we hang out and do anything we feel like. Just us.” Cristiano offered and the idea didn’t sound all that bad to Leo. 

“Yeah. Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this one took a minute to write. I was seriously lacking in inspiration and will. Thanks to Katastic11 for giving me the motivation to get me through this hell chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayee I'm back

Just remember what Leo told you. Two negatives make a positive. Or was it two negatives make a negative? Cristiano thought to himself. He was glaring down at his math midterm that he was only halfway done with. Scratching his temple with the eraser at the tip of his pencil; It was as if everything Leo had taught him had disappeared as soon as the test was in front of him. Most of the kids around him had already turned in their test. Hell, even _Sergio_ had turned in his test. 

He sighed and scribbled down what he thought to be the answer and went on to the next question. Who thought Monday mornings was a good time for a math test? His thoughts drifted to Leo and he wondered how he was doing on his midterms. Cristiano couldn’t wait for Wednesday afternoon. The two had agreed on Wednesday afternoons being their ‘do whatever we want’ time. At least he had some motivation to survive this test and make it to Wednesday. 

** 

Leo stood on his porch, glancing down the road and then turned his attention to his phone. It was Wednesday after school and Cristiano had texted him, asking for his address. The whole situation felt a little surreal. A few months ago, he would’ve have rather walked into oncoming traffic than willingly hang out with Cristiano. But the boy had a very annoying habit of growing on people and Leo had developed a small soft spot for him and would even go as far as to consider them friends. 

A bright red Mazda Miata stopped in front of Leo’s house and the window rolled down to reveal Ronaldo waving excitedly at him. Leo just shook his head and headed over. Once he got in the car, he half expected Cristiano to immediately start talking about his midterms and when the boy stayed silent about the subject, Leo couldn’t help but wonder if he had passed or not. 

“So, I was thinking we could go bowling.” Cristiano broke Leo from his thoughts as they drove down his street. 

“Sounds fun.” 

The car went quiet again and Leo was itching to ask about his grades. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to seem too interested. He turned his attention to the passing building outside; Noticing they were the scenery was flying by. Leo glanced over at the speedometer. 

“You know it’s only 35 on this street, right?” The needle on the speedometer was settled between 45 and 50. Cristiano just waved him off and continued at the same speed. Leo rolled his eyes and pressed deeper in his seat. He wasn’t going to make another comment about Cristiano’s semi-reckless driving, that was until he had run a stop sign. Leo had to double take and look back to make sure he had saw right. 

“Uh that was a stop sign back there.” 

“Oh, was it?” Cristiano sounded as though he genuinely didn’t see it. 

Leo stared at him for a moment with a raised eyebrow and concern etched on his face. Still Cristiano didn’t look bothered in the least. Huffing in disbelief, he pressed his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. 

“I was looking forward to bowling, ya know. Too bad we’ll die before we get there.” 

 

** 

Turns out they made it to the bowling alley in one piece. Leo had already decided that next week _he_ was the one driving. It also turns out that Cristiano is scary good at bowling and really Leo isn’t surprised by this. The guy seemed to be good at almost everything. The only exceptions being math and driving. Leo, on the other hand, isn’t the greatest at bowling. He wasn’t terrible but compared to Cristiano, this might as well have been the first time he had played. Still though, this was the most fun he’s had in a while. Throwing playful barbs at one another, making fun of certain songs that came over the speakers and not once speaking about school or soccer. 

They had just finished up their second game when Leo noticed his co-worker, Josie, walking in with a friend he didn’t recognize. He gave her a small wave which was returned much more enthusiastically. Cristiano was setting up their third game when he turned to see Leo being approached by two girls. He walked over to see what was going on. Leo introduced them as Josie, his co-worker and her friend Dana. Cristiano figured they talk a little and then part ways, but then Leo invited them to join iin on their game and Cris couldn’t help but feel a little weird. 

Cristiano found himself not minding Dana. She didn’t say much and seemed almost too polite. It was Josie that was beginning to grate on his nerves. Anytime he could try and say something to Leo, she was there, speaking over him or laughing way too loudly at something Leo had said. She always found a chance to place a dainty hand on Leo’s arm or wrist. Her crush on him was painfully obvious but Leo seemed completely oblivious to it. 

Lionel had noticed how Cristiano had become more withdrawn since Josie and Dana had joined their game. It confused him, considering the boy was one of the most outgoing people he knew, but regardless he picked up on Cristiano’s uncomfortableness. Once Josie went to the bathroom, Leo used the opportunity to nudge Ronaldo’s side with his elbow. 

“You want to get out of here?” He spoke lowly so Cristiano was the only one to pick it up. 

“Yeah.” Was the short response but it was accompanied by a grateful smile. 

** 

On the way back to Leo’s house, he noticed Cristiano was taking the longer route around the town. He decided not to make a comment on it, though. He didn’t really mind. However, he did finally ask the question he had been wanting to ask. 

“So how did your midterms go?” 

Cristiano seemed to be back to his normal self with his blinding smile and upbeat tone, “passed every one of them. Even math.” 

Leo felt himself smiling along because that smile was undeniably infectious.


	8. Chapter 8

Leo kept true to his word and was the one who drove the next time the two boys hung out. Leo was also the one to choose what they would be doing and Cristiano was a bit surprised when it was laser tag that was chosen. 

Turns out Leo takes laser tag _very_ serious. Cristiano had only seen him this competitive and determined, when they were on the pitch. More times than not, Cristiano found himself being “shot” by Leo but this was the most fun he had ever had playing laser tag. He was currently prowling through the darkly lit course, trying to find Leo before he was found. He caught sight of the boy and smirked to himself. He raised his gun, happy he was finally about to have one up on Leo, but then his head snapped to the side and looked Cristiano in the eye. Cristiano tried backing up quickly to hide behind the wall to avoid being shot, but he ended up tripping and falling backwards on the ground. Leo was standing in front of him in an instant holding his gun up to Cristiano. 

“So, this is how it ends, huh?” Cristiano asked playfully. He looked up at Leo who was grinning wickedly at him. His face was illuminated by the neon lights and for the first time Cristiano noticed his dimples coming out. Cristiano couldn’t take his eyes off of them. 

“Afraid so.” Leo pulled the trigger and “shot” Cristiano. But he didn’t do it just once. He pulled the trigger over and over and over. Cristiano’s vest lit up in bright colors. 

“Okay, okay! You’ve made your point!” Cristiano exclaimed, trying to grab the end of Leo’s gun. Leo just laughed and held his hand out to pull him up. 

** 

Instead of going home, the two boys decided stop by a fast food joint for dinner because who didn’t want to sit in the car, listen to an old Zeppelin CD, and down milkshakes and tater tots. 

“So, your school is having their Winter Formal the same night as us, right?” Cristiano asked out of the blue. 

Leo turned down the radio slightly, “yeah I think so.” 

Cristiano nodded and looked contemplative for a moment, “are you going with anyone or-?” He trailed off. 

“No, I have to work that night, anyways.” 

“Oh. Cool.” 

Leo brushed off Cristiano’s odd behavior and turned the radio back up. He finished his last tater tot and pulled out of the car park. The car ride to Cristiano’s house was filled with bits of small talk. Cristiano talked fondly of his family and the trips that they have been on. Leo didn’t much to contribute in the way of family trips, but he did talk about his brothers and sisters. He spoke very little of his parents, something Cristiano picked up on, but he didn’t make a comment. 

Leo pulled in front of Cristiano’s house and put the car in park. 

“So, I’ll see you Saturday?” Leo questioned as he watched Cristiano unbuckle his seatbelt. 

“I’ll come by the diner but I won’t be at the library. Sergio’s having a party so I want to have time to get ready for that.” Ronaldo cleared his throat and sounded almost apologetic. 

Leo wouldn’t admit to anyone that he felt slightly disappointed at those words. “Right. I hope you have fun.” He tried to come off as sincere as possible. Cristiano, however, wasn’t fooled by Leo’s false sincerity. 

He chuckled softly. “You can come if you want to. I’ll tell Sergio you’re with me. He won’t mind.” 

Leo quickly shook his head and turned down the idea, “those things aren’t really my scene, ya know?” 

“Well the offer still stands if you change your mind.” Cristiano opened the door and slid out of the car, “I’ll see you later.” 

Leo waved with a tiny smile on his face. He didn’t pull away until he had seen Cristiano walk through his front door. He wasn’t going to change his mind about that party but still it was nice of Ronaldo to offer.


	9. Chapter 9

Cristiano walked into Rosie’s Diner at the same time as usual and sat down at his normal booth. His leg bounced and he scrolled through his phone, as he waited for Leo to come over. He wondered if the boy would change his mind about coming to Sergio’s party. 

“Hey.” Leo’s soft voice was next to him. 

He grinned and looked over to greet Leo but his words were caught in his throat. Leo’s hair was no longer so shaggy or flopping down on his forehead. The sides had been cut shorter and the top was messily styled to one side. He didn’t realize just how long he had been staring up at Leo until he cleared his throat and looked to the side, seeming uncomfortable. Cristiano mentally slapped himself for totally acting like a weirdo. 

“You got your hair cut.” 

Leo shifted his weight from foot to foot. His hand subconsciously ran through his hair, “yeah.” Was the only thing said about the subject. He swallowed, “mango smoothie?” 

“You know me so well.” Cristiano joked and watched Leo roll his eyes and walk away with a small smile. 

** 

Much to Cristiano’s disappointment, Leo didn’t change his mind about coming to Sergio’s party. Throughout the night, Cristiano sent Leo a few texts and even a couple pictures of the party. But the longer the night went on, the more drinks Cristiano had and the more the letters on the keyboard blurred together until he couldn’t tell what was being typed anymore. 

“I figured you of all people would know better than to drunk text.” Sergio leaned over the back of the couch, Cristiano was sprawled out on. Sergio walked to the other side of the couch and pushed Cristiano’s feet off so he had a place to sit. 

“So, who’s so important you have to text them _right now_?” 

Cristiano sighed and turned his phone off. Leo had stopped replying a while ago but he supposed that was to be expected, it was a little past one in the morning. “It’s just Leo.” He had to close his eyes to keep the spinning room from giving him a headache. 

“Leo?” Sergio sounded confused for a second, trying to figure out who Cristiano was talking about. “You mean Messi? You’re still talking to the guy?” 

Cristiano hummed in agreement and the conversation went quiet. The sound of music and other people talking could be through the house. 

“He’s just really cool to hang out with, ya know?” Cristiano broke the silence with slurred words. Sergio regarded his friend with curious eyes, wondering what drunken thoughts were going through Cristiano’s head. 

“He’s never afraid to call me out on my shit or to be brutally honest with me.” Sergio took note of the far away tone of Cristiano’s voice. But he kept quiet and continued to listen. “He’s so small and quiet; His hair is so adorable too.” 

Sergio raised an eyebrow at that, “Jesus Cris, you sound like you’re in love with him.” He joked but his laughter died out when Cristiano didn’t join in. 

“Well considering I’ve been crushing on him since sophomore year-” Cristiano didn’t finish that sentence. Instead he curled up on his end of the couch and let his breathing even out. 

Sergio stared at his friend, who was now passed out on his couch. His mind still trying to process what Cristiano had told him. Cristiano had a crush on Lionel Messi for 2 _years_? Short, awkward, quiet, pointy-eared Lionel Messi. He was having a tough time wrapping his mind around that one. 

The party had come to an end a few hours later. Sergio let Cristiano stay asleep on his couch instead of making him head home. While he considered himself a naturally good friend, he did have ulterior motives for letting Cristiano stay the night. Sergio was going to bombard him with questions in the morning when Cris sobered up. 

** 

When Cristiano woke up, it was well past noon. His mouth was bone dry and his head was on the verge of exploding. He sat up with a groan and a cup of coffee was being shoved in his face. 

“Drink up.” Sergio’s voice was too loud and cheerful. He grabbed the cup and took a sip. Sergio plopped down beside him and threw an arm on the back of the couch. He was looking at Cris with a smile that seemed like he knew all of his secrets. 

“So, do you remember what happened before you passed out last night?” 

“No.” Cristiano spoke lowly and rubbed his temple. “What happened?” 

“Nothing much. You just confessed your undying love for Lionel Messi.” 

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Cristiano said, sarcastically. He wasn’t in the mood for Sergio’s “jokes” right now. 

“It’d be funny if it wasn’t true.” 

Cristiano looked over at his friend to his face was dead serious. His heart beat rapidly in his chest and he felt like he was going to be sick; But that could partly be from the hangover. He swallowed thickly and looked down at his trembling hands. 

“Has it really been two years?” Cristiano just nodded in response. 

Sergio spoke again, “why him, though? It doesn’t-” 

“Doesn’t make sense. I know.” Cristiano cut his friend off. 

“Well-” Sergio clapped his friend on the shoulder. “-I’ll make sure this works out for you. Don’t worry.”  
Cristiano’s eyes grew at what Sergio was implying, “please don’t get involved.” 

Sergio grinned over at him and Cris knew everything could only go downhill from here.


	10. Chapter 10

Sergio was insistent about coming with Cristiano the next time he went to the diner. Leo didn’t talk much this time. He observed Sergio with guarded eyes and didn’t stick around as long to speak to Cristiano. 

“I don’t think he likes me very much.” Sergio said, taking a bite of his bagel. 

“ _I_ barely like you.” Cristiano emphasized with an eye roll. Sergio just laughed and gulped down his soda. 

Cristiano was slightly annoyed by his best friend’s presence. He wasn’t ever planning on telling Leo or even making a move. It was just a harmless crush that he has so happened to have harbored for 2 years. Honestly, he wasn’t even planning on trying to make friends with Leo, but things happened and he was happy to go along with it. Come the end of the year none of this would matter, Cristiano would be off playing soccer for college and he knew Leo would most likely get into one of those smart kid colleges. They’d part ways and probably never speak again; Thus, his crush would eventually fade away. 

“So, here’s what I don’t get.” Sergio gained Cristiano’s attention once more. “You come here every Saturday, whether you’re busy or not, just to see him-” 

“I come here for the smoothies.” Cristiano interrupted. 

“Nobody likes a liar, Cris.” Sergio continued, “anyways, after that you meet up at the library to “study”-” Cristiano felt his eye twitch when Sergio used air quotes when he said ‘study.’ 

“And not to mention you guys get together every Wednesday to hang out. You guys are practically already dating. Just ask him out.” 

Cristiano groaned, “it’s not that simple. We’ve just now become friends.” 

Just then Leo walked over to hand them the check. Sergio watched his friend’s eyes soften and a bright smile pull at his lips. Sergio tried to hide the smirk growing on his own face. Cristiano was so whipped. 

“I’ll see you at the library?” Sergio even noticed how Cristiano’s voice changed when he spoke to Leo. It was lower yet more gentle. 

“Yeah. I’ll see you then.” Leo’s voice didn’t change from his normal soft tone. But when Sergio observed the other boy, he noticed how he couldn’t meet Cristiano’s eyes for very long. 

Once they had paid, Sergio stopped at the door, “hey you go on to the car. I gotta use the bathroom.” Cristiano nodded and headed out, not thinking much of it. 

Leo was cleaning the table when Sergio confronted him, “hey, Messi?” He leant against the booth with crossed arms. 

“Yeah?” Leo straightened his back and looked over at Ramos. 

“Listen, Cris has been going through some stuff lately. It’s really got him down, ya know?” Sergio lied with ease. So what if Cristiano told him not to meddle? He’d thank him later. Leo didn’t reply, he just raised an expectant brow. 

“It’d really cheer him up you took him somewhere tonight; After you guys study, I mean.” Sergio watched as Leo chewed on his inner cheek. 

“Yeah, we’ll see.” He spoke after a moment. Sergio grinned and waltzed out of the diner. He just _knew_ Leo would take Cristiano somewhere. 

** 

Lionel kept glancing at Cristiano every few minutes during their study session and Cristiano could feel his eyes on him. Cris looked up from his homework and their eyes met. He shot Leo a small smile and was about to turn back to his paper until Leo spoke up. 

“Do you want to go somewhere after this?” 

Cristiano furrowed his brow at Leo’s question. They weren’t supposed to go out anywhere on Saturday’s other than the library. “Uh sure.” 

Leo grinned at him and turned back to his homework. 

** 

“Ice skating?” Cristiano sounded nervous as they pulled up to the rink. 

“I used to go all the time with my sister. It’s a lot of fun, I promise.” Leo slid out of his car and waited for Cristiano to do the same. They walked inside and Leo could feel his apprehension coming off in waves. He paid no mind to it as he rented the skates and they walked over to the benches lining the outside of the rink. 

“You ready?” Leo was already standing on the ice and was holding out his elbow for Cristiano to hold onto. 

“No.” Cristiano took a hold of Leo’s elbow and stepped on the ice. His legs were wobbly and he felt like he was about to fall over any second. One hand had a death grip on Leo’s arm while the other was holding onto the railing. 

Leo tried moving them forward but they only moved an inch because of Cristiano’s hold on the railing. “You’ve got to let go of the rail.” Leo bit back a laugh. 

Cristiano huffed but listened and soon they were moving forward at a more reasonable pace. 

“Okay, I want you to let go of me now.” Leo said after they made one lap around the rink together. Cristiano’s eyes went wide and he shook his head vigorously. 

“You’ll be fine.” Leo pried his fingers off his arm, skated a ways in front of him and turned to watch Cristiano. 

Cristiano held his hands out to balance himself as he tried skating towards Leo. He made it about halfway before his feet slid out from underneath him. He groaned as he hit the ice. Leo tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help it. He found it surprisingly endearing to see Cristiano sitting on the ice, face flushed with embarrassment and a childish pout. His mouth went a little dry and everything felt a little muzzy. Leo tried shaking the feeling away and skated over to help Cristiano up. 

Holding his hands out to Cristiano, Leo tried pulling him up but it seemed Cristiano had a different plan. He was pulled down on the ice as well. Their faces were close. Too close for Leo. He could even feel Cristiano’s hot breath for a second before he jerked back, cheeks tinted a dark red. 

“Sorry.” Leo sputtered out his apology and stood back up on his skates. He held a slightly shaky hand out to Cristiano to actually help him up this time. “Few more laps?” 

“Yeah.” Cristiano was grinning but his own ears were burning bright red as he took Leo’s outstretched hand.


	11. Chapter 11

The boys weren’t able to hang out outside of school this Wednesday. Cristiano had his quarterfinal game tonight and it wasn’t just an important game, no, tonight a college scout would be here to watch certain promising players; Players like Cristiano. He had to make a good impression tonight and just the thought of preforming badly, had his stomach in knots. The closer to game time, the more Cristiano felt like he was going to be sick. 

** 

Leo’s family was a little surprised to see he home on Wednesday night, but none of them mentioned it. After dinner, he turned on the Xbox in his room and loaded a game of FIFA. He didn’t realize just how boring afternoons after class were when he didn’t have practice, homework or Cristiano to hang out with. Leo wasn’t really focusing on his game, instead his mind continued to drift to Cristiano and how his game was going. 

The more time went by, Leo debated if he should send Cristiano a text. Just something simple; Asking how the game went. After about 2 hours of debating, he finally sent it. 

_‘How’d it go?’_ He stared at his phone screen for the longest time, but as soon as it was evident that Cristiano wasn’t going to reply anytime soon, he threw his phone to side and got ready for bed. 

Brushing his teeth, changing into a pair of sweatpants, Leo was finally ready to curl up and go to sleep. He checked his phone one last time for anything from Cristiano. Still nothing. With a sigh, he turned on his side and closed his eyes. Leo was on the edge of falling asleep, but his phone dinged loudly, bringing him back to reality. He grabbed his phone, about to tell whoever this was, to leave him alone, but his anger dissipated as soon as he saw Cristiano’s name on his screen. 

_‘Won by a landslide. 3-0.’_

Leo replied back almost embarrassingly fast, _‘Any of those goals happen to be yours?’_

_‘Two. Had the assist on the other.’_ Leo didn’t feel so weird about replying so quickly when Cristiano’s response came almost as fast as his own. 

Something about Cristiano’s messages gave off an almost disappointed vibe. He should be happy about his performance tonight, so why did he sound so unenthusiastic? Leo normally isn’t one to pry but he couldn’t help but bring it up. He wanted to know if something was wrong with his friend. 

_‘You should be happy about your win. What’s up?’_ This time Cristiano took longer to reply. Leo was no longer so tired. His eyes were wide as he waited for Cristiano’s message. The small bubble popped up signaling Cristiano was typing but it would disappear and reappear over and over as Cristiano seemingly battled with what to say. 

Finally Leo got the reply he had been waiting for, _‘My form was pretty bad. Or so my dad says.’_

Leo’s fingers moved over the keyboard as he felt the tiniest bit of anger towards Cristiano’s father. _‘Cris, I’ve seen you play. Your form is great. Did your dad really tell you that?’_

_‘He wasn’t so nice about it but yeah.’_

Cristiano sounded so detached and aloof. Though, Leo didn’t want to leave Cristiano alone right now, he also could recognize when people needed space. _‘If you want to talk then I’ll be here, okay?’_

Leo was ready to turn his phone off and go back to bed but Cristiano’s message caught him off guard. _‘Can I call you? I could use someone to talk to right now.’_

It was getting later now and Leo knew it wasn’t a great idea to stay up much longer, especially with how early he has to wake up in the mornings. _‘Sure.’_

Seconds later Cristiano was calling and Leo answered without hesitation.

_**_

______ _ _

__Leo put his head down on the cool surface of his lunch table. He had stayed up talking to Cristiano way up into the night and got very little sleep in result. But it was worth it. Cristiano’s dad had really gotten in his head but by the end of the conversation, Leo could hear the old Cristiano coming back out._ _

______ _ _

__“What’s wrong with you today?” Gerard’s voice sounded off beside him. Leo brought his head up to look at him with tired eyes._ _

______ _ _

__“Didn’t get much sleep last night.”_ _

______ _ _

__“Why not?” Leo should’ve seen this question coming. While it wasn’t his nature to pry, it certainly was in Geri’s nature._ _

______ _ _

__He sighed and knew Gerard wouldn’t take ‘no reason’ as an answer. So, against his better judgement, he gave his friend the truth. “I was talking to Cristiano. He was upset about some stuff and I was just trying to make him feel better.”_ _

______ _ _

__Gerard’s eyebrows knitted together, “so, what? You guys are like best friends now or something?”_ _

______ _ _

__Leo chuckled at the infantile tone in his best friend’s voice. “Just friends, Geri. You’re still my best friend.”_ _

______ _ _

__“Damn right I am.” Gerard slung an arm around Leo and pulled him into his side, “Ronaldo’s got nothing on me.”_ _

______ _ _

__Gerard was his best friend, that was for sure but it was weird to realize he probably wouldn't have stayed up so late if it was Gerard he was talking to last night instead of Cristiano. Though, it was probably for the best if Geri didn't know that._ _

______ _ _


	12. Chapter 12

Gerard, Luis, and Marc-Andre had begged Leo to come to Edgewater High’s winter formal. Leo had used working as his excuse to get them off his back. He wasn’t going to tell them that his manager had offered to give him the night off if he actually wanted to go. 

Once 6’o clock hit, the diner was virtually empty. Leo was leaning against the counter, chin resting on his palm, watching the ceiling fan above him spin slowly. It was swaying to the sides and he knew one of these days it was going to fall. 

The diner door swinging open gained his attention. Cristiano strode in with a Cheshire Cat-like smile. Leo stared wide eyed for a moment, shocked to see him here. Cristiano slid onto the barstool in front of Leo. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Good to see you too, Leo.” Cristiano laughed, warmly. “You told me that you had to work tonight so I decided to come keep you company.” 

Leo cocked his head to the side ever so slightly. His brows knitted together in confusion. Why would Cristiano skip out on the dance to come hang out at the diner with him? Then it hit him. 

“Your date stood you up, didn’t they? His voice held no malice and instead bordered on playful. 

Cristiano looked taken aback and brought his hand up to his chest. “Okay, first of all, _no one_ would stand me up. Second of all I figured hanging out here and having you wait on me all night would be a much better time.” That smile was back on his face. Leo couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Only if you leave a good tip.” 

**

Cristiano had been there a little of an hour. He had gotten his usual smoothie and a plate of French fries; Which Leo would steal from every now and again. The diner remained relatively empty, save for an elderly couple that had come in and were quietly nursing coffees. The two boys talked about school, finals next week, and already planning out what they were going to do next Wednesday afternoon. 

“I’m thinking we go see a movie.” Cristiano said over the food in his mouth. “They’re showing the first _Paranormal Activity_ next week for some anniversary thing.” 

Leo scratched the back of his neck. The last time he had watched that movie, he had lost sleep over it. “I don’t know, man. That movie kind of sucks, doesn’t it?” 

“I thought it was pretty good actually.” Cristiano studied Leo for a moment and took note of his somewhat nervous mannerisms. “Oh my God, you’re scared!” 

“I am not!” The elderly couple looked over at the commotion between the teenagers and Leo lowered his voice, “I am _not_ scared.” 

Cristiano was leaned back on the barstool laughing at how defensive Leo had gotten. The frustrated blush spread over Leo’s nose and cheeks made him look too adorable for his own good. Cristiano’s laughter died down to a chuckle. He pushed the upper half of his body closer to Leo as if he was about to tell him a secret. 

“Don’t worry, Leo. I’ll protect you.” 

Leo scoffed and crossed his arms, “I don’t need you to protect me. It’s just a movie.” He was slightly flustered by how close Cristiano had gotten; Reminding him of the incident when they were ice skating. But this time he didn’t lean away, instead he only turned his head to the side. 

“So, we can see it?” Cristiano sat back down on the stool. “Unless you’re too scared.” 

“Yes, we can see it.” Leo knew he would be terrified coming out of that movie. He and horror movies didn’t mix well but he’d be damned if he admitted to Cristiano that he was scared. 

“It’s a date then.”


	13. Chapter 13

Leo didn’t know it was possible to be excited for something while simultaneously dreading that exact thing but that is how he felt once Wednesday rolled around. He wasn’t able to concentrate on his biology final because his mind kept wondering to Cristiano. He wondered how the boy was doing on his own finals, he wondered how tonight was going to go and he wondered if they were going to do anything either before or after the movie. Maybe they could grab something to eat at some point. Leo made a mental note to text Cristiano about that after school. 

He glanced up at the clock on the wall and seen that he had about 40 more minutes to finish his final. The final that he was barely _halfway_ through. He watched Gerard get up and hand his paper to the teacher and sat back down at his desk, not before shooting Leo a smirk. Leo gripped his pencil and turned back to his own paper. He hoped that he would get it done before time was up. 

** 

Gerard and Leo walked out to the parking lot after school had let out. Leo had barely finished his test in time and he was sure his grade would reflect how absentminded he was. 

“You wanna come over?” Gerard asked, stopping beside his car. 

Leo rubbed the back of his neck, “actually Cristiano and I were going to catch a movie tonight.” 

Gerard let out one of the most overdramatic sighs Leo had ever heard from him. “It’s always Cristiano this or Cristiano that! What about me?” 

Leo rolled his eyes, “I see you every day, Geri. You know Cris and I hang out on Wednesdays.” Speaking of which, he still needed to ask Cristiano if they could grab some food tonight. He pulled out his phone and opened up Cristiano’s contact. 

“So, its _Cris_ now?” Gerard tried looking over at Leo’s screen but was nudged away. Leo pocketed his phone after sending the text. He began walking towards his own car. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Geri.” 

“Have fun on your date!” Gerard yelled after Leo and turned the heads of a few students. Leo felt his cheeks burn as he held his head down and walked a little faster to his car. Once inside, his phone vibrated. His body felt warm when he saw it was from Cristiano. 

‘ _of course! I’m starving! Let’s eat before the movie._ ’ 

** 

Cristiano had picked up Leo not long after the boy got home. Leo had begrudgingly agreed to let Cristiano drive this time. He turned down his music once Leo was seated inside. 

“So, I’m thinking we get pizza. You okay with that?” Cristiano asked with a bright smile. Leo felt a flutter in his stomach at the sight. 

“Yeah, that sounds good.” He cleared his throat and tried getting rid of that strange sensation that was traveling from his stomach to his chest. Though, his efforts didn’t matter because that feeling stayed in place the entire car ride. It was this indescribable feeling that only being with Cristiano could bring. Leo didn’t understand it nor could he put a name to it. It didn’t necessarily feel like a bad thing; He could only describe it as a warm, bubbling nervousness. Of course, this feeling only intensified as he witnessed Cristiano try and sing along to some Mariah Carey song at the top of his lungs. 

** 

Cristiano couldn’t keep his eyes off of Leo at the pizza place. Even under the ugly florescent lights, Leo still looked captivating. Cristiano would bring up stories of all the idiotic things he and Sergio had done, just to hear Leo laugh. Just to see his eyes crinkle and his cheeks dimple. He loved the way his whole face would light up when he talked about things he felt passionately about. Or the way his cheeks would flush if he got embarrassed by something Cristiano said. They talked about college, the latest La Liga games, past relationships and even where they wanted to move to. 

“I think Gerard is jealous of you.” Leo spoke with a small grin. “Thinks you’re my new best friend or something like that.” 

Cristiano had to chuckle at that, “Isn’t that true, though?” He teased. 

“Just don’t tell him that.” They grinned across the table at each other. 

** 

“Don’t worry.” Cristiano told Leo as they took their seat at the theater. “I’ll let you hold my hand if it gets too scary for you.” 

Leo hit his shoulder with a glare. “This movie isn’t even that scary.” He sunk down in his seat with his arms crossed. As soon as the theater went dark and the opening credits began, Leo immediately regretted agreeing to this. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as bad this time as it was the first time he watched it. 

As the movie went on, Leo was proved wrong. It was just as bad as the first time. Cristiano seemed fine beside him. Looked like he was enjoying himself even. Meanwhile, Leo was sure that his heart rate was hitting dangerously high levels and his stomach was in knots. One intense jump scare later, Leo found himself reflexively grabbing onto Cristiano’s forearm. It wasn’t on purpose, honestly and his face turned blood red once he realized what he was doing. 

“Sorry.” He whispered and let go of the boy’s arm. Cristiano put his arm on the shared armrest between them. 

“Feel free to crush my arm whenever you need to.” Cristiano whispered and even though it was too dark to see, Leo could hear the smirk in his voice. It was then that Leo promised himself to never do that again, else he might literally die of embarrassment. 

** 

Leo had tried his hold his resolve but the last 20 minutes of the movie was spent with Leo clutching onto Cristiano’s arm and he didn’t really care at that point; He was absolutely petrified as he walked out of the theater. Cristiano was rubbing the spot where Leo had held. 

“I think I’m going to have a bruise in the morning.” 

“It’s your own fault.” Leo remarked, opening the door to Cristiano’s car and getting inside. “I mean who thinks seeing a horror movie is a good idea?” 

Cristiano pulled out onto the main road and the car ride to Leo’s house held a comfortable relative silence. The smooth voice of Elvis played on the radio and Leo put his head against the window, watching the stars in the sky. Today was one of the best days he’s had with Cristiano, yet. Even if the movie had terrified him and he had made himself look silly by holding onto Cristiano like a child. Still, he couldn’t deny the relief he felt just by touching Cristiano. 

Leo looked so serene and happy that Cristiano couldn’t bring himself to break him out of whatever thoughts were going through his head. He kept glancing at him from the corner of his eye. His heart swelled and he never wanted this night to end because everything felt so _perfect_. 

It didn’t take too much longer before Cristiano was pulling up to Leo’s house. Leo unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over to Cristiano, looking a bit hesitant to leave. 

“You going to be able to sleep tonight?” Cristiano grinned at him. 

Leo rolled his eyes in response but the corners of his mouth quirked up. “Yes, I’ll be able to sleep.” 

“I’m just a phone call away.” 

Leo snorted softly and opened the car door to get out. “Sorry about-” He trailed off and motioned to Cristiano’s arm. 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s what I’m here for.” 

Leo had a small smile on his lips and kept replaying those words in his head until he fell asleep that night.


	14. Chapter 14

Winter break didn’t hold anything exciting for Lionel Messi. Working sometimes but mostly spending it inside his house. He couldn’t even look forward to hanging out with Cristiano because the boy had gone on a skiing trip to Colorado with his family. Though, they had made a habit out of texting one another throughout the day. Cristiano liked to send pictures of himself head to toe in ski gear, out on the slopes. It was endearing knowing that even though Cristiano was on a vacation and was doing something most of the day, he still made time to message Leo. 

Leo was about to head to bed one night when his phone began ringing. He raised an eyebrow when he saw it was Cristiano calling. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Leo!” Cristiano’s overexcited voice caused the corners of his mouth to upturn. He didn’t realize how much he missed that voice. 

“How’s Colorado?” And with that question, Cristiano went into immense detail about everything he had done so far. He spoke so quickly that Leo didn’t have time to reply or comment on anything that was said. He even went as far to tell Leo what he had for dinner most nights. 

In the end, Leo was trying to process the onslaught of information and could only think of one thing to ask. “So, the skiing is good?” 

“Well, it’s not The Alps, but it’s still good.” Cristiano chuckled. “I should know, that’s where we went last year.” 

Leo scoffed playfully, “I think that’s the most pretentious thing I’ve heard you say yet. 

The conversation went on and on and Leo didn’t realize they had already been speaking well over an hour until he looked at his alarm clock. He had to work in the morning and the conversation definitely didn’t seem to be close to ending anytime soon but he couldn’t bring himself to end it. So, they continued talking and he tried not thinking about how much he was going to regret this in the morning. 

** 

After multiple cups of coffee, Leo dredged into work the next morning. He stayed up way too late last night but it was absolutely worth it. He and Cristiano didn’t have any shortage of things to talk about. It had felt like ages since he had seen the other. His mind continued replaying bits of their conversation last night as he clocked in and tied his black apron around his waist. He hadn’t even noticed nor heard Josie greeting him. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he greeted her back and mumbled out an apology. Leo hoped that it wasn’t going to be especially busy today with how absentminded he was. 

Thankfully, Leo got his wish. Today was the slowest Friday the diner has seen in a while. He stood at the counter, listening to Josie go on about something or other. Leo wasn’t too sure what she was talking about anymore, his mind had drifted to back to Cristiano a while ago and but he would try and reply every now and again with a, “that’s crazy” or a small laugh. The bell above the door chimed and Leo caught the eye of one Sergio Ramos, who looks to have zeroed in on him. Leo watched, with a weird feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, as Sergio sat down at the counter with a huge grin on his face. 

“Hey, Leo. Crazy seeing you here.” 

“I bet.” Leo replied back, sarcastically and took out his notepad. “You need anything?” 

“You know, I’d love a Rueben.” Not once did Sergio’s grin drop, even with Leo’s sarcastic and unamused demeanor. 

Leo scribbled down his order and placed the paper in the ticket window. He turned back to see Sergio typing away on his phone. He wondered if there was anything that he could do to busy himself around the diner so he wouldn’t have to be subjected to speaking with Sergio. Two middle aged women came in and sat at a booth next to the window and Leo felt relieved. Just as he was about to walk over there, Josie was in front of him. 

“Don’t worry about it. I can get them. You can keep talking to your friend.” She flashed him a naïve smile and was already walking towards the table. 

“So, Leo-” Sergio called from his end of the counter. “I think we should talk.” 

Leo furrowed his brow and walked over to him. What could he and Sergio possibly need to talk about? 

“Don’t look so serious. It’s nothing crazy.” Leo felt irritation run through his veins when Sergio winked at him. There was something about Sergio that always irked Leo. He always seemed like he was scheming something when he was around Leo. 

“Feels like Cristiano has been gone forever, doesn’t it?” Sergio asked, leaning his elbows on the counter. 

Leo tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out where Sergio was going to go with this. “I guess?” 

“Yeah, I bet you really miss him, huh? I know you guys hung out a lot.” 

“You make it sound like he’s not coming back.” Leo rolled his eyes. 

A wicked glint appeared in Sergio’s eyes and Leo tried not to ponder on it, “so Christmas is coming up pretty soon.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, don’t tell Cris I told you this; It’s supposed to be a surprise, but he told me he got you something for Christmas.” 

Groaning softly, Leo rubbed his temple. “Are you serious?” Not even his other friends like Geri, got him gifts for Christmas. Now he was going to have to figure out what to get Cristiano in return. He had briefly thought about getting him something earlier during the break, but decided against it; Thinking it would make him uncomfortable in some sort of way. 

“You don’t sound too happy about that.” Sergio mused. 

Leo sighed, “I just don’t know what I’m going to get him in return.” 

Sergio just grinned, wiped his fingers on a napkin and stood up from his seat. “Well I’m sure you’ll think of something.” 

** 

“I saw Leo at the diner today.” Sergio spoke over the phone. He had called Cristiano later that night just to “catch up.” 

“He _does_ work there.” Cris replied sarcastically. “I hope you didn’t bother him.” 

Sergio scoffed, “of course not! We ended up talking about you most of the time actually.” Cris became uncharacteristically quiet, so Sergio took the opportunity to speak again, “He actually told me that he got you something for Christmas.” 

“Leo got me something?” Cristiano sounded almost surprised. Sergio replied with a noise of agreement. “I guess I’ll have to get him something.” 

The conversation ended after a few more moments and Sergio put his phone up with an accomplished smirk plastered over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know it's been way too long. My only excuse is; It's really hard to write a love story when your own love life has been turned upside down, flipped around and fucked 4 ways to Sunday. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely not.

**Author's Note:**

> In celebration of the end of my semester, I have decided to start another story. Enjoy. 
> 
> P.S. Do you know how hard it is to break the habit of typing 'football' to typing 'soccer' because of the change of countries in the story? The answer is: hard. Very hard.


End file.
